Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., sharply criticized ABC News host George Stephanopoulos during an interview over the weekend, after Stephanopoulos scolded Donalds for responding to his questions about former President Donald Trump's remarks on Vice President Kamala Harris' racial identity.
Donalds said during the Sunday interview on "This Week" that this was a "phony controversy," adding that many mainstream media outlets had previously referred to Harris as the "first Indian American U.S. senator."
"It doesn't really matter. The president mentioned it. What he also talks about far more frequently is the fact that Kamala Harris is the person who created this massive inflation which is destroying Black families, white families, Hispanic families," he said.
"It's her failure as border czar that has left our southern border wide open — more than 10 million illegal immigrants coming into our country; record fentanyl coming into our country, which has killed more Americans than at any other point in the history of our country with respect specifically to fentanyl."
Stephanopoulos, onetime press secretary for former President Bill Clinton, accused Donalds of having "just repeated the slur again" and demanding to know why Donalds would question Harris' racial identity.
"Well, George, first of all, this is something that's actually a conversation throughout social media right now. There were a lot of people who were trying to figure this out. But, again, that's a side issue, not the main issue," Donalds replied.
"You just did it — you just did it again. Why do you — why do you insist on questioning her racial identity?" Stephanopoulos asked.
"George, now that you're done yelling at me, let me answer," Donalds said. "He talked about it on the stage yesterday in Atlanta for, what, two minutes? He spent more than 35, 40 minutes going after her record, talking about how radical of a senator that she was.
"She was the most liberal senator in the United States Senate. That is a fact. He talked about the job that she did as vice president of the United States — a job, I will add, which has been a failure for the American people.
"I know you guys like to glom on to this, that he talks about in jest or in a serious manner for about a minute or so. What you do not cover is the litany of failures of Kamala Harris. That's what you're not covering, George," he said.
Stephanopoulos then asked, "So questioning somebody's racial identity for a couple of minutes is OK?"
"I mean, George, we could have this conversation for the entire segment, but none of this matters to the American people," Donalds replied.
"What matters to the American people is: Are we going to have the same policies of the Biden-Harris administration that has been destructive of the American people, or are we going to have the policies of the Trump administration — which put America first; had low inflation; prosperous Americans no matter your race, no matter your color, no matter your creed; and a foreign policy that kept America safe?
"Those are the facts that truly matter, because this issue is going to come and go. The lives of the American people is what's going to remain, and that's what matters more than anything else," he said.
Jeremy Frankel ✉
Jeremy Frankel is a Newsmax writer reporting on news and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.